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Show HN: Jackpocket- Buy your $586M Mega Millions ticket right from your phone

jackpocket.com

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Re: Show HN: Jackpocket- Buy your $586M Mega Millions ticket right from your phone

#11

Post by lshemesh »

rory096 wrote: post #10
pjsullivan3 wrote: post #2

We've been super quiet about this and are not really ready to ship yet (bunch of bugs) but decided to let you guys give it a try since the Mega Millions is so big. If you're on iOS you can use the code "money" to try it

I'm getting "Location must be enabled to use JackPocket" here in VA on my S3 running ICS. Looks like it's attempting to get a GPS lock and timing out before it gets one. Any reason you all need fine location data and coarse won't cut it? Cool idea though- I'll definitely give it a shot if it starts working!

Totally should have mentioned this earlier. For now we're only going to be supporting NY lotteries, that's where our tickets are bought. In order to comply with current lottery rules, you have to be physically in the state of the lottery you're playing. We use GPS fencing to accomplish this.

Re: Show HN: Jackpocket- Buy your $586M Mega Millions ticket right from your phone

#13

Post by lshemesh »

[deleted] wrote: post #12
pjsullivan3 wrote: post #2

We've been super quiet about this and are not really ready to ship yet (bunch of bugs) but decided to let you guys give it a try since the Mega Millions is so big. If you're on iOS you can use the code "money" to try it

[deleted]

Yes for right now we're only in NY. Would love to open it up in New Hampshire someday.

Re: Show HN: Jackpocket- Buy your $586M Mega Millions ticket right from your phone

#14

Post by mbesto »

pjsullivan3 wrote: post #2

We've been super quiet about this and are not really ready to ship yet (bunch of bugs) but decided to let you guys give it a try since the Mega Millions is so big. If you're on iOS you can use the code "money" to try it

Good luck with the business Pete. Had no idea you were on HN!

- Besto

Re: Show HN: Jackpocket- Buy your $586M Mega Millions ticket right from your phone

#17

Post by PeterWhittaker »

Cue legislative response to disruptive use of technology in 3... 2... 1...!

I love apps like this - way cool, and will cause some politicos to flounder and babble and froth as they seek to rationalize and apologize for current rights patent.

Re: Show HN: Jackpocket- Buy your $586M Mega Millions ticket right from your phone

#18

Post by guardanis »

Splendor wrote: post #16

I was unable to use it. It told me location access needed to be enabled even though it already was. Nexus 4 running KitKat.

Hi Splendor, I'm the Android developer for it and I'm sorry to hear you're having issues with the geo-fencing, but I will try to help you out. Currently, the application uses Google Play Services (a connective library for Google Play's APIs) in order to grab your location to make sure you're in New York.

If you're getting an error saying that Location must be enabled in order to use it, it means that your device claims the GPS Provider, the Network Provider, AND the Passive Provider are ALL disabled when attempting to grab your location.

If you're sure they're enabled in your settings (where the App's error message should take you), I would try restarting the device.

If the issue still persists, please shoot me an email at matt@jackpocket.com and I will help you get it working

Re: Show HN: Jackpocket- Buy your $586M Mega Millions ticket right from your phone

#19

Post by rybosome »

lshemesh wrote: post #9
Jemaclus wrote: post #8

How does this work? It's my understanding that you must have a physical ticket to claim your lottery winnings. How does that work with a mobile app? And what's to prevent Jackpocket from using my winning ticket to claim the winnings themselves? Not really clear on the legality of anything here. I'm trying to "imagine the possibilities", as the site says, and I'm coming up with a lot of questions that aren't addressed…

FAQ isn't available quite yet, we'll be adding one soon. Jackpocket buys the lottery ticket on your behalf, and actually sends you a digital image of it. Your trust, and a whole bunch of fancy legal docs are what prevents us from cashing in your tickets. If you do happen to win, we retrieve the money for you, credit your Jackpocket account, and allow you to withdraw the money directly into a bank account of your choo…

Hey there,

Just wanted to offer some feedback that you may want to address this issue more clearly. Being frank, I would not feel comfortable gambling the (insanely unlikely) $500+ million jackpot with a relatively faceless entity, especially without confronting this issue of trust directly. Although the terms page is quite readable and free of legalese, the idea of allowing someone to purchase such a high-value item on my behalf makes me skittish.

Re: Show HN: Jackpocket- Buy your $586M Mega Millions ticket right from your phone

#20

Post by Jemaclus »

lshemesh wrote: post #9
Jemaclus wrote: post #8

How does this work? It's my understanding that you must have a physical ticket to claim your lottery winnings. How does that work with a mobile app? And what's to prevent Jackpocket from using my winning ticket to claim the winnings themselves? Not really clear on the legality of anything here. I'm trying to "imagine the possibilities", as the site says, and I'm coming up with a lot of questions that aren't addressed…

FAQ isn't available quite yet, we'll be adding one soon. Jackpocket buys the lottery ticket on your behalf, and actually sends you a digital image of it. Your trust, and a whole bunch of fancy legal docs are what prevents us from cashing in your tickets. If you do happen to win, we retrieve the money for you, credit your Jackpocket account, and allow you to withdraw the money directly into a bank account of your choo…

Yeah, that's not cool. I wouldn't trust anyone with a $50 million piece of paper that I won, contract or not.

Good luck, though.

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